1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates generally to data processing systems. More specifically, the invention relates to a coordinated processing and analyzing of large amounts of data to reveal complex interrelationships in a coherent manner. More specifically still, in one implementation, the invention relates to data processing in accordance with the multifaceted constraints of intellectual property analysis and litigation.
2. Description of the Related Art
In an increasingly complex world, situations regularly arise that require the processing and analysis of large amounts of data, aspects of which might be interrelated in numerous ways. It is often useful to be able to simplify the analysis of data and express interrelationships across subsets thereof in a coherent manner, etc. In the field of complex data processing, various systems are available for distilling large amounts of data down to its core features in a variety of ways for ease of analysis.
One field that regularly involves large data sets with multi-layered complexities is litigation. In the environment of intellectual property, for example, issues of claim construction, infringement, written description, invalidity and/or patentability, among others, might arise. At the heart of these issues are the patent claims, each of which includes a variety of concepts. The issues might require analysis of large volumes of textual and graphical description, followed by the structured analysis and mapping of portions thereof against the claims' individual concepts.
With further respect to intellectual property, in the context of patent analysis or litigation, for example, several variables may contribute to the complexity and volume of data present in a typical case or matter, including large numbers of 1) patents and claims at issue, 2) claim limitations in individual claims, 3) references cited by the applicant and/or patent examiner during examination of an application and/or 4) additional prior art references uncovered during post-issuance investigation. As the data in these categories increase, the number of discrete issues likewise generally increases. To combat this complexity, it may be beneficial to combine related issues into groups for purposes of analysis. When searching for invalidating prior art, for example, systems exist that allow a user to break complex claims down into their individual limitations, and combine multiple similar limitations across claims or patents into conceptual groupings to reduce the number of individual concepts, in an effort to render the search for prior art more efficient.
Despite these features, however, the user may nevertheless be left to sort through hundreds or thousands of prior art disclosures that may apply alone or in combination across large numbers of claim limitation or concepts. It may be beneficial in certain scenarios to further enable a user to rank or otherwise qualify prior art references or individual disclosures in a customizable variety of ways, with respect to the individual claim concepts being investigated.